Just as the details were emerging of a sex scandal involving Gen. David Petraeus that the media was calling "explosive," Staff Sgt. Kenneth Wade Bennett took what bomb disposal experts call "the lonely walk" toward an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan.

farking disgustingly written. There's no reason to reference The Petraeus sex scandal in this story. Just write a respectful article, goddammit.

I'm so sick of the word hero. Heroes are almost nonexistent. There is no glory in war, only tragedy. How anyone can read things like this and feel pride - or anything other than soul crushing despair - is beyond me.

First of all, Daily Beast, this is a sad story about something that happened to a good man, stop putting General Petraeus references in it.

Second, I did my time over there, and one of the guys I currently work with is former EOD, so all of this hits close to home. Sure as hell isn't an easy job, and I'm saddened for the family he left behind.

shotglasss:tolallorti: Just as the details were emerging of a sex scandal involving Gen. David Petraeus that the media was calling "explosive," Staff Sgt. Kenneth Wade Bennett took what bomb disposal experts call "the lonely walk" toward an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan.

farking disgustingly written. There's no reason to reference The Petraeus sex scandal in this story. Just write a respectful article, goddammit.

This. Why sully this hero's obituary with a reference to that pile of shiat?

I think the point was to try to illustrate how out of whack the media's priorities are that this guy got no mention while the sex scandal was on 24 hour rotation. It wasn't artfully done, however; so it came off as crass.

Colbert had one of his most poignant moments as a satirist this week when he said (paraphrasing), "Come on, if we were really still fighting a war in Afghanistan, don't you think the media would be covering that, and not this bullshiat?" (referring to the CIA sex scandal)

PaLarkin:Your Average Witty Fark User: Our troops have no business being there. Remove them all. Let those farks over there kill each other. If they become a problem, bomb the country back to the stone age.

The only problem I have with this is that bombinb Afghanistan to the stone age would be an improvement.

You know there are people over there who aren't involved with all the violence and awful stuff, right? I mean, the world isn't black and white. I don't think we should be over there at all, but that doesn't mean I think everyone in the damn country should die.

I know and am friends with quite a few people who are children of immigrants from Pakistan and Afghanistan. Their less wealthy relatives still live there. It makes me wince when I see people talk about those "savages" and how the whole area needs to be turned into a parking lot.

As a disabled Veteran, I thank you for all you have sacrificed. As an Ammo Troop, I've known many an EOD soldier, and have many that are still friends. Always sad to read of a lost soldier. I salute you Staff Sgt. Kenneth Wade Bennett!!!

Rent Party: "The only reason we got involved in Kosovo and Bosnia is because they share a border with some of the largest economies in western Europe."

Have you looked at a map recently?

Kosovo borders: precisely nothing that can be seen as a "largest economy in europe" or even "an important economy in europe."B/H borders: precisely nothing that can be seen as a "largest economy in europe" or even "an important economy in europe."Serbia borders: precisely nothing that can be seen as a "largest economy in europe" or even "an important economy in europe."The chances that the conflict would have "spilled over" into something like Hungary anyway: zero.

But, you know, keep grasping as straws, you muppet. But I'm sure you were in a rush for mom to drive you to the mall as you needed more goth makeup.

Please explain the US/Nato intervention in Kosovo and Somalia. You might want to clarify and refine your ovesimplistic and juvenile initial analysis.

Want to honor veterans? "Act honorably" is a better dictum. This includes waging war only as a last resort when it is necessary to secure the life and freedom of the oppressed, regardless of personal benefit OR HARM to yourselves.

The US/NATO operations in Kosovo and Bosnia were overall a resounding success. They ended a bitter conflict and saved tens of thousands of lives. What is the US's reward for this?

- the US taxpayer got to pay for it but...- alternative narratives in the region obscure this fact. A Greek PhD engineer that I knew at a top university swore that "all greeks know" that DU shells that the US used in Kosovo "killed over 100,000 and continue to cause birth defects bla bla". In order words, little to no thanks from the immediate and surrounding region.- much of this was waged in defense of muslim populations. of course, little to no appreciation of this fact from the greater muslim world.

in my view, US operations in Kosovo were honorable and on balance a spectacular success. But, we shouldn't judge solely by outcome. As such, I believe that US actions in Somalia were also very honorable. Unfortunately the US lacked the resources (in that case, political will and intestinal fortitude) to carry out the mission successfully due in part to the smallmindedness of cowards who basically decided that simply preventing people from dying was not in our national interest.

craxyd:clevernamehere: craxyd: Rent Party: We should thank veterans by ceasing to create them.

Please explain.

my guess is he means the best tribute to all veterans would be to cease all wars, thus no longer creating veterans.

let this crop be the last, 'n all that

/o. /o. /o. /o.

I was thinking it was something along those lines.Unfortunately, there will always be a need for people to do the unpleasant yet necessary job of going out there when called upon by our country.Should we still have troops over in the Litterbox? I'm inclined to agree with those saying "Not anymore dammit!" but at the same time, I say we be ready. Sometimes, smacking someone upside their head with President Roosevelt's big stick is the only option.

Horseshiat.

All wars are fought for money. The one I fought in was fought for money, and this one is being fought for money, too. This isn't a "necessary job." The "necessary job" was farked up 12 years ago, and there is absolutely *nothing* salvageable from it.

This kid will grow up without a father so flag waving assholes don't have to say "Whoops, lost another war!" and Lockheed Martin can sell us another suite of useless F-35's and F-22s.

pete1729:lenfromak: Bin Laden's dead. Can we stop sending people there to their deaths?

What in the name of fark all are we still doing there?

Something.

A friend of mine was over there this spring and summer. He was doing something or other that had to do with building a justice center in some shiathole of a village someplace over there. Worked with the local warlord and his henchmen (I swear, he was posting pics to his Facebook page and that's what they looked like--henchmen). He was there six months, and as they were pulling out, he and his unit were getting rocks thrown at them as they left.

Bring the troops home. Carpet bomb that farking shiat hole back to the stone age. Until all the sand has fused to glass with those farkers fused in it.

^ This.

I can see having EOD guys in places where there's something to save, but FFS, if it looks "suspicious" and is in Afghanistan, don't send a human, just blow it the fark up from a safe distance.

That entire population isn't worth the life of one (1) American soldier.

A large part of the issue is the fact that over the past 50 years, Afghanistan has been bombed back to the stone age several times. As a matter of fact, over the past 50 years that country has seen more years of war than peace. Bombing it into the stone age would, at this time, be to maintain the status quo...thanks to the Soviets from '79 through to '91 and the ISAF (Americans, Canadians, British, Pakistanis, etc) for the past 11 years.

And your mentality regarding the lives of Afghans vs that of Americans is farking horrific. God only knows how many Afghan lives have been lost...and I am willing to bet that someone misses each and every one of those souls, be they combatants or not. Some of them likely had two year old girls that didn't want to lose their father as well. So fark you, and I sincerely hope you die a horrific death.

HotWingAgenda:Knucklepopper: Good story. I think. What kind of story is this? Where in the hell are the details? What happened? I get that he died disarming a bomb, I think, but when? Where? Were any lives saved? This is supposed to be a tribute so write it as a farking tribute.

OpSec.

This. While I agree that this piece was horribly written, it is quite possible there are real security reasons for withholding all but the most general of details.

I'm glad that they published this story to bring to light the fact that whilst everyone is on a witch hunt for Petraeus -- soldiers are still dying and get almost no attention. They are trying to drive that point home.

He died trying to ensure the rest of his unit lived - amazing selflessness.

NO MORE WAR. I know, I'm idealist like that but I agree, let's not have anymore veterans as the ultimate tribute to those before.

Let the rest of the world play bad cop for a while. As Obama said, "let's Nation Build here at home" instead. We can focus on domestic terrorists, crime, etc. just fine within our 50 (and nearly 51) without issue.

To those of you members of Congress and former Presidential corps who thought these wars were a good idea and you'd hunt the bad guys down to make the world a safer place and declared "MISSION ACCOMPLISHED" as more soldiers died, FARK YOU. In the most sincere use of the word - I don't hate you, but I despise your lack of respect for human life and suffering at the expense of Americans all in the name of your "War on Terror". You sent kids to their deaths, you sent Fathers, Mothers, Sisters, Brothers, Friends without real and honest thought.

I send coping vibes to Mrs. Bennett -- I cannot imagine what she's going through right now trying to manage her young daughter and expecting a child that will never know Dad.

tolallorti:Just as the details were emerging of a sex scandal involving Gen. David Petraeus that the media was calling "explosive," Staff Sgt. Kenneth Wade Bennett took what bomb disposal experts call "the lonely walk" toward an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan.

farking disgustingly written. There's no reason to reference The Petraeus sex scandal in this story. Just write a respectful article, goddammit.

I have mixed feelings about it. I think it is keen reminder that for the people that have family and friends deployed overseas that they do not give a shiat who Petraeus slept with. They just want their loved ones to come home.

Based on the media reports you would think who one man slept with was the most pressing matter facing our country. I appreciate the author mentioning it in a minimalist way, in large part because as I read that sentence I felt annoyed that The Petraeus sex scandal is news, yet a significant portion of the country will never hear or read about Staff Sgt. Kenneth Wade Bennett.

Knucklepopper:Good story. I think. What kind of story is this? Where in the hell are the details? What happened? I get that he died disarming a bomb, I think, but when? Where? Were any lives saved? This is supposed to be a tribute so write it as a farking tribute.

And to those chickenhawks and neo-con armchair warriors who throw men like this into the meatgrinder for profit or political advantage:

fark you, fark you, fark you. If there was any justice in this world, this man would never have had to serve three tours in Afghanistan. But NOOOOO, you had to fark shiat up by invading Iraq and lying out your ass about why it was so damned necessary.

Yes, the man died by IED, but it was Stop-Gap and the policies that provoked its use that murdered him.

Third the first of these quoted & second the second:/No bye bye, Daddy//I'll just leave my heart here, this tore it out.Staff Sgt. Kenneth Wade Bennett, you did more than your duty for longer than you should've had to.Please rest in honoured peace, sir (which one doesn't normally call an NCO. SSG Bennett richly deserves that appellation). One hopes your daughter will remember you, young tho she is now. Mom & widow should be able to make that so.

Any way to reduce the number of security forces in Afghanistan for next 10 years? Since it doesn't appear possible to get the fark outta there?

"Wade was too good at that, it couldn't be Wade," Jennings remembers telling himself.

/It was probably a command detonated charge. They saw him walking up..and set it off. Very sad indeed, and a waste of a good man. And proper use of the Hero tag. It's going to take 100 guys to carry him and his giant brass balls in the casket. Seeya around champ.